Bestsellers

Scoring system: 10 points for first place down to 1 for 10th on The New York Times list (4,000 bookstores, plus wholesalers), the American Booksellers Association list (independent, sometimes highbrow stores), and two lists from The New York Times website: one for independent bookstores, one for chains. Flags of our Fathers James Bradley and Ron Powers

31 points (ABA: 3rd; NYT: 3rd; USA Today: 5th; Amazon.com: 2nd)

GIST James Bradley's father was one of the flag raisers, but his father never spoke of his experience except to say, "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back." The book recreates the battle, where 22,000 Japanese and nearly 26,000 Americans died, and reconstructs the lives of the six flag raisers.

WORLDVIEW Humanism.

CAUTION Graphic description of war.

27 points (ABA: 4th; NYT: not listed; USA Today: 1st; Amazon.com: 1st)

GIST Cheese makes us happy. We get accustomed to it, develop an entitlement attitude toward it, and don't notice when it begins to smell bad or disappear. When we fight to hold on to cheese, we hurt ourselves and our organizations. The parable, however, doesn't show how to discern when it is wise or necessary to resist change to uphold a higher principle.

WORLDVIEW Relativism.

CAUTION Some readers may enjoy T.D.'s schemes too much.

CAUTION n/a

26 points (ABA: 1st; NYT: not listed; USA Today: 2nd; Amazon.com: 4th)

GIST Shriver provides practical wisdom based on her own experiences. On career: Pursue your passion, be willing to start at the bottom, look for a good boss, and don't cut ethical corners. On family life: Kids change lives and marriage is hard work. She refers to the importance of God, but doesn't flesh out what that means.

WORLDVIEW Humanism.

CAUTION Frank discussions of racial prejudice for middle school and older.

CAUTION Mild profanities.

16 points (ABA: not listed; NYT: 1st; USA Today: not listed; Amazon.com: 5th)

GIST Morrie Schwartz, dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, probes Mitch Albom's motivations: "Have you found someone to share your heart with? Are you giving to the community? Are you at peace with yourself?"

WORLDVIEW Materialism is shallow; the answer lies in a mix of Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism on an agnostic base.

CAUTION n/a

14 points (ABA: 5th; NYT: not listed; USA Today: 3rd; Amazon.com: 3rd)

GIST The soul is like a huge mother ship. Our earthly existence is like a small boat. The mother ship exists before we are born (and become a small boat), and when we die (leaving our boats behind) we return to the eternal mother ship. Such is the wisdom of Gary Zukav in this hodgepodge of Eastern and New Age beliefs.

WORLDVIEW Pantheism.

CAUTION n/a

Six men took their place among the pantheon of American heroes when they raised Old Glory atop the island of Iwo Jima. The photograph taken there embodied American courage and patriotism, but it also tended to disembody the men in the picture until they no longer seem like real people. James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers (Bantam Doubleday Dell 2000) not only gives a gripping account of the battle of Iwo Jima, but also adds a bit more form to those faceless heroes. His father, John "Doc" Bradley, was the last of the six flag raisers to die. During his lifetime, he tried to avoid the fame that accompanied the photograph. He never discussed the battle with his family and pretended to be vacationing in Canada in order to avoid phone calls from reporters. After his death, his family found boxes of memorabilia from the battle, piquing the interest of son James, who began to investigate the lives of the six and ended up writing a book. Considering the natural constraints inherent in profiling six relatively obscure men who are no longer living, Bradley manages to elevate the men past the point of caricature and give a well-rounded view of each man's life from childhood to Iwo Jima and beyond.